# I Am a Strange Loop > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop > Source revision: 1335556020 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 2007 book by Douglas Hofstadter I Am a Strange Loop Cover of the first edition Author Douglas Hofstadter Language English Subject Consciousness, strange loops, intelligence Publisher Basic Books Publication date March 26, 2007 Publication place US Media type Print (hardback) Pages 412 pages ISBN 978-0-465-03078-1 OCLC 64554976 LC Class BD438.5 .H64 2007 Preceded by Gödel, Escher, Bach ***I Am a Strange Loop*** is a 2007 book by [Douglas Hofstadter](/source/Douglas_Hofstadter), examining in depth the concept of a *[strange loop](/source/Strange_loop)* to explain the sense of "I". The concept of a *strange loop* was originally developed in his 1979 book *[Gödel, Escher, Bach](/source/G%C3%B6del%2C_Escher%2C_Bach)*. In the end, we are self-perceiving, self-inventing, locked-in mirages that are little miracles of self-reference. — Douglas Hofstadter, *I Am a Strange Loop*, p. 363 ## Content Hofstadter had previously expressed disappointment with how *Gödel, Escher, Bach*, which won the 1980 [Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction](/source/Pulitzer_Prize_for_General_Nonfiction), was received. In the preface to its 20th anniversary edition, he laments that the book was perceived as a hodgepodge of neat things with no central theme. He writes: "GEB is a very personal attempt to say how it is that animate beings can come out of inanimate matter. What is a self, and how can a self come out of stuff that is as selfless as a stone or a puddle?"[1] Hofstadter seeks to remedy this problem in *I Am a Strange Loop* by focusing on and expounding the central message of *Gödel, Escher, Bach*. He demonstrates how the properties of [self-referential](/source/Self-referential) systems, demonstrated most famously in [Gödel's incompleteness theorems](/source/G%C3%B6del's_incompleteness_theorems), can be used to describe the unique properties of [minds](/source/Mind).[2] As an exploration of the sense of "I", Hofstadter explores his own life and those to whom he has been close.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The book received favorable reviews. The *[Wall Street Journal](/source/Wall_Street_Journal)* called it "fascinating", "original", and "thought-provoking".[6] ## See also - [Feedback loop](/source/Feedback) - [Phenomenology (philosophy)](/source/Phenomenology_(philosophy)) - [Identity](/source/Identity_(philosophy)): in particular, the [Ship of Theseus](/source/Ship_of_Theseus) paradox - [Russell's paradox](/source/Russell's_paradox) - [*I think, therefore I am*](/source/Cogito%2C_ergo_sum): similar idea from [René Descartes](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Hofstadter, Douglas R.](/source/Douglas_R._Hofstadter) (1999) [1979]. "Preface". *[Gödel, Escher, Bach](/source/G%C3%B6del%2C_Escher%2C_Bach)*. Basic Books. p. [P–2](https://archive.org/details/gdelescherbachet00hofs/page/). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-465-02656-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-465-02656-7). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Hofstadter, Douglas R. (June 11, 2008). ["An Interview with Douglas R. Hofstadter, following *I am a Strange Loop*"](http://tal.forum2.org/hofstadter_interview). *Tal Cohen's Bookshelf*. Interviewed by Tal Cohen. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Johnson, George (March 1, 2007). ["A New Journey into Hofstadter's Mind"](http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-new-journey-into-hofsta) (Book review). *[Scientific American](/source/Scientific_American)*. Retrieved May 7, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-wired_4-0)** Hofstadter, Douglas R. (March 2007). ["Me, My Soul, and I"](https://www.wired.com/2007/03/me-my-soul-and-i/). *[Wired](/source/Wired_(magazine))*. Interviewed by Kevin Kelly. Retrieved May 7, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Hofstadter, Douglas R. (March 22, 2007). ["Author Interview"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130308122208/https://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/douglas-r-hofstadter). *[American Scientist](/source/American_Scientist)*. Interviewed by Greg Ross. Archived from [the original](http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/douglas-r-hofstadter) on March 8, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Derbyshire_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Derbyshire_6-1) Derbyshire, John (March 23, 2007). ["The I's Have It"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071015115821/http://olimu.com/Journalism/2007/Texts/StrangeLoop.htm). *[The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal)*. Archived from [the original](http://olimu.com/Journalism/2007/Texts/StrangeLoop.htm) (Book review) on October 15, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2025 – via olimu.com. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-NYTimes_7-0)** Hofstadter, Douglas R. (April 1, 2007). ["The Mind Reader"](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01wwlnQ4.t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin). *[New York Times Magazine](/source/New_York_Times_Magazine)*. Interviewed by Deborah Solomon. Retrieved May 7, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Gardner, Martin](/source/Martin_Gardner) (August 2007). ["Do Loops Explain Consciousness? Review of *I Am a Strange Loop*"](https://www.ams.org/notices/200707/tx070700852p.pdf) (PDF). *[Notices of the American Mathematical Society](/source/Notices_of_the_American_Mathematical_Society)*. **54** (7): 853. Retrieved December 10, 2007. v t e Douglas Hofstadter Books Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979) The Mind's I (1981)1 Metamagical Themas (1985) Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies (1995)2 Le Ton beau de Marot (1997) I Am a Strange Loop (2007) Surfaces and Essences (2013) Concepts and projects Ambigram BlooP and FlooP Copycat Hofstadter's butterfly Hofstadter's law Hofstadter points MU puzzle Platonia dilemma Six nines in pi Strange loop Superrationality Related Robert Hofstadter (father) Egbert B. Gebstadter Indiana University Bloomington Victim of the Brain 1 Edited by Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett 2 By Hofstadter and the Fluid Analogies Research Group Authority control databases Open Library 2 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [I Am a Strange Loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_a_Strange_Loop?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.